What do you guys think of Emerson, Lake and Palmer?

Last night, I went to bed and had the radio on and they played "From the Beginning" by them and I have heard that song a few times and it just mesarizes me every time. It is beautifully written and executed.

Loved 'em as a teen. I don't think I have any on CD... I should get some.

n/t

I hope they tour again.

Saw them at the Portland Coliseum in summer of 1977, I think, on the "Works" tour, after they had already ditched the frickin' orchestra.

Keith Emerson "smashed" a hammond organ and jacked off a ribbon controller until it shot fireballs out of its end.

A funny show.

I'd still pay a buck for "Brain Salad Surgery."

We modified a scrap TV by hooking the vertical and horizontal electron-gun steering coils to the left and right "B" speaker outputs of our Radio Shack stereo receiver. As those heavy synthesizer tunes played out, we had a cool "Lazarium" style lissajous projector right there in the basement. A few Erlangers and a few taps on the ashtray and we were having fun, fun.

Kansas was pretty good for this with all of their synthesizers.

"I Believe in Father Christmas" by Greg Lake

They said there'll be snow at Christmas
They said there'll be peace on earth
But instead it just kept on raining
A veil of tears for the Virgin birth.

I remember one Christmas morning
A winter's light and the distant choir
And the teal of a bell and that Christmas tree smell
Eyes full of tinsel and fire.

They sold me a dream of Christmas
They sold me a silent night
They told me a fairy story
Till I believed in the Israelite.

And I believed in Father Christmas
I looked to the sky with excited eyes
Then I woke with a yawn in the first light of dawn
And I saw him through his disguise.

I wish you a hopeful Christmas
I wish you a brave new year
All anguish, pain, and sadness
Leave your heart and let your road be clear.

They said there'd be snow at Christmas
They said there'd be peace on earth
Halleljah, Noel, be it heaven or hell
The Christmas we get we deserve.


This song gets plenty of airplay every Christmas. Is Greg Lake an atheist?

"From the Beginning" by Greg Lake


There might have been things I missed
But don’t be unkind
It don’t mean I’m blind
Perhaps there’s a thing or two

I think of lying in bed
I shouldn’t have said
But there it is

You see it’s all clear
You were meant to be here
From the beginning

Maybe I might have changed
And not been so cruel
Not been such a fool
Whatever was done is done
I just can’t recall
It doesn’t matter at all

You see it’s all clear
You were meant to be here
From the beginning

It is so mesmarizing. It starts out a little like "Roundabout" by Yes and then takes on a life of its own. Reminds me a little of The Battle of Evermore by Led Zeppelin but even more refrained. It is a beautiful song.

so, loved lots of ELP... haven't listened in YEARS though and might be embarrassed if I did.

but I had ALL that stuff. Genesis, ELP, King Crimson, Yes, etc....

:evilgrin:

"Three guys trying to outplay one another." I couldn't put it any better.

:thumbsup:

No, wait. That was Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds. Sorry!

hehe. :-)

My teenage years were full of school friends who played this horrible stuff endlessly. The worst kind of overblown, pompous flatulence.
Well, you did ask..

Saw the Works tour in Boston in '78 (?), and years later interviewed Carl Palmer when he, Emerson and Robert Berry went out as "3". Palmer was a great guy, very laid back and thoughtful. Dunno about Lake, but everything I've ever heard about Emerson is that he's a poisonously arrogant shithead. Still, he's an extremely accomplished pianist and composer - certainly one of rock's most impressive instrumentalists.

"From the Beginning" was one of the few 70's era rock ballads I learned on the guitar.

Prog rock suffered ceaseless derision by the rockcrit establishment (and I should know, since I've been a published music critic for 25 years myself), but it had its place and definitely broadened the genre. I recall reading a toxic review of the triple live album written by Leonard Feather, who was utterly merciless on it. My attitude has always been...look, if you think this music is that pointless and that shallow and that pretentious, why write about it at all? I managed to write nearly weekly clear through the 80's without covering a single hair-metal band, since I was quite convinced I couldn't even fake a civil remark about them. The greatest dis a critic can give to bad music is to ignore it.

The answer, of course, is that critics can't resist the temptation to show off and call attention to their highly evolved sense of cool/not cool - pissing on something makes them feel important, pissing on the same thing all their colleagues piss on makes them feel part of the herd.